Kuki MLAs Skip President Murmu’s Senapati Reception; Displaced Families Say Their Voices Were Ignored
The reception ceremony for President Droupadi Murmu in Senapati district witnessed a notable absence of Kuki legislators, even as a limited group of Kuki internally displaced persons (IDPs) were brought to meet her by the Kangpokpi Deputy Commissioner.
Key Kuki civil society bodies, including Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills and CoTU, had earlier criticised the President’s visit, accusing it of “sidestepping Kuki-Zo regions” and failing to acknowledge the scale of displacement in some of the worst-hit areas. While the President briefly interacted with a few Kuki IDPs in Senapati, she did not travel to conflict-ravaged districts such as Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, CSOs noted.
IDPs in Kangpokpi and other hill districts said they were denied the chance to submit their memorandum or express their concerns directly.
Speaking to reporters, Diana Haokip, spokesperson of the Kangpokpi District Internally Displaced Persons Welfare Committee, clarified that the IDPs did not boycott the visit but were hurt that no platform was provided for them to be heard.
“We did not reject the President’s arrival. We condemned the visit because the suffering of our people remained completely unattended. It is heartbreaking,” she said.
The committee reiterated its list of long-pending demands—raising daily relief allowances, resuming halted DBT payments, ensuring equal compensation for all affected families, rebuilding partially damaged homes, and improving education and healthcare support for displaced children and elderly persons.
IDPs emphasized that despite their continued hardship, the visit left them “unseen and unheard,” deepening frustration among communities still struggling for rehabilitation.
